Crook Point Brewing Company, 65 Massasoit Ave., East Providence; photo credit: Sean Carlson Over the past year, The Grind has gleamed as one of Rhode Island’s coffee gems. Set up at Crook Point Brewing Company (65...
Natasha Hodgson in the Broadway Company of Operation Mincemeat. Photo by Matt Crockett. The Tony Award® and Olivier Award®-winning musical launches the North American leg of its world tour at the Providence Performing Arts Center September...
Hunter Brown, Allie Seibold, and Seth Eliser in You've Still Got a Friend, playing at Bill Hanney's Theatre By The Sea from August 20 - September 13, 2026. Photo by Michael Derr Okee dokee folks… Tonight, at Theatre By The...
Photo by Steve Ahlquist. The unionized workers of the Community Libraries of Providence have been without a contract for two years now. Their patience, which had been wearing thin, was stretched to the breaking point by...
Photo: L-R: Pénélope Rose, Manya Glassman, Emeline Easton, and K. Elisa Garcia. by Mike Ryan. The Rhode Island International Film Festival, also known as Flickers, took place August 4 through August 9, bringing filmmakers, actors, industry...
I think museums and the culture around them have historically gotten a bad rap. When you think of museums, you might associate them with classism, inaccessibility, and wealthy donors and patrons. There’s also the issue...
As the leaves change to amber hues, so do fall beers. Our local brewers are excited about the opportunity to offer these loved styles of craft beer. If you are looking forward to cozy sweaters...
Illustration by Sadie Levine. 1. Adams Farm (pumpkins, hay rides, corn mazes) Plus: Variety fall farm stand 158 Burnt Swamp Road, Cumberland 401-714-4425 2. Appleland Orchard (apples) Plus: Cider, wine, and donuts 135 Smith Avenue, Greenville 401-949-3690 3. Barden Family Orchard (apples, pumpkins) Plus: Farmers...
Okee dokee folks… I just realized that I have been attending concerts for 50 years now. In that span of time I have seen countless shows. I honestly have no idea how many I have...
Moon Leone didn’t set out to make your run-of-the-mill pop songs. They build whole worlds, embodying different characters and using visuals to tell stories that ultimately help people heal from trauma. Performing as YourFriendM00n, they...
On August 12, Motif cohosted a forum on the Arts in Providence featuring Democratic Primary Mayoral candidates Brett Smiley and David Morales. In Providence, the real election typically happens in the primary. The winner will go...
Every election cycle, Motif brings you the candidates in their own words so you can try to compare apples to apples. It’s our way of contributing to the political process while not having the fact-checking...
Environmental Organizations Endorse Foulkes for Governor PROVIDENCE — The Providence Streets Coalition, a grassroots activist organization devoted to increasing funding, safety, and reliability in the state’s transit network, announced July 21 that it is backing former...
For the cover of Motif’s Fall Guide, painter and muralist Nicholas “Niko” Tolentino of Cranston drew inspiration from his childhood days, he relates in an interview at White Electric Coffee Co-Op in Providence. Roger Williams Park...
Centerville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket hosted its first live music event in August. It started big with the Island Roads Fest, featuring popular reggae/ rock bands including Sublime, Slightly Stoopid, Iration, Action Bronson, DENM, Bumpin...
Stepping into a tattoo convention without a tattoo or an array of piercings can be intimidating, like stepping into a gallery show without reading the title first. Aside from a pair of basic ear studs,...
August 12, 6:30 - 8:30 PM Southside Cultural Center - 393 Broad Street, Providence What do the candidates for Mayor of Providence have in mind for the future of arts engagement in the “Creative Capital”? Find...
Can art by Joey Visco Dogs and drafts? Is there any better way to celebrate yappy hour? If you are an animal and craft beer lover, this is an event you do not want to miss!...
Photo by Sindayiganza Photography. The FIFA World Cup tournament was full of thrills, drama, chaos, unity, and live television shots of devastated children in tears after their team lost a heartbreaking match. The final whistle brought...
Matthew Provençal as Thomas Andrews in ‘Titanic: The Broadway Musical’ at Bill Hanney's Theatre By The Sea July 23 – August 15, 2026. Photo by Mark Turek. The challenge to staging a production of “Titanic: The...
The Tattoo Awards featured a gallery wall populated by local artists. Here is a selection of the artwork on display! By Brianne Elizabeth @foxhallowart By Victori Leo Riel Grab Your Heart & Go by Allie Boyer @peaceflowercreations MONSTROELIZASUE by...
Photo by Jess Lee Images. I met Lily Spencer in an acting class taught by Eric Lutes, whom many television fans will remember from the 1990s sitcom “Caroline in the City.” Eric, who now lives in...
Rachel WS. Favorite Animal/ Favorite Floral Tara D’Agostino – Iron Lion Tattoo By the numbers, Tara D’Agostino got her first tattoo at the age of 15, picked up her own tattoo machine at the age of 19, opened...
Photo by Jillian Clark. There’s no feeling quite like finally being able to fully step into your own, to truly embrace your whole self and carry yourself through the world with that mentality. Not an identity...
Kai Nanfelt. Okee dokee folks… Last weekend I went on a ten-hour, each way, road trip to play a show. The drive wasn’t so bad, but the music was horrible. As I have mentioned before, I...
Photo by Isaac Laliberte Wards 2, 9 and 12 all report the same. Mendez wins in each! It appeared that Providence was perfectly poised to usher-in its first female mayor in history. The polls were closed and...
“You’re late, Brother,” she said, hovering outside the weathered cottage near a pebbly beach, indistinguishable from the shadows cast by moonlight that hit the thick hydrangeas. It was late in the evening of a seawind-chilled...
It’s almost Cthulhu – pardon my hiccup, I meant, “election” – season again. And if the tactics of these times don’t make your head swim and your bowls ache, as if you were being eviscerated...
When cover artist Bob Eggleton of Warwick first got interested in art and started sketching nightmarish creatures, he recalls, an aunt asked him, “What’s drawing a monster gonna get you in life?” He’s spent the last...
Skyler Shields (Kenickie) and the cast of the Theatre By The Sea (Wakefield, RI) production of “Grease” running thru July 18, 2026. Photo by Mark Turek. “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop! A-wop-bam-boom!” BY ALISON O’DONNELL ON JUNE 27, 2026 Grease is the...
Photo: Erin X. Smithers Wilbury Theatre Group proudly presents the first show of its 2023/24 season, the world premiere of 22|6: THE REM|X OF A GLOBAL EXPER|MENT, written and directed by JaMario Stills. 22|6 is being billed as an immersive and thought-provoking theatrical experience that weaves together personal narratives, historical truths, and futuristic possibilities while […]
When you’re a kid, candy is currency. It is the life-force-giving stuff of dreams, none too sweet nor too gimmicky. A dropper of sour goo? Sounds good. A hollow ball of tempered chocolate with a surprise inside? Choking hazards be damned. As folks grow up, they typically lose their devotion to the sweet stuff, either […]
If you type “poisoned candy” into snopes.com you’ll get a big FALSE message. Most of the scarelore you’ve heard about the dangers lurking in Halloween candy is total hype. According to Snopes, to qualify as a Halloween poisoning, the poisoned candy must be handed out on a random basis to children as part of the […]
The Outsider Collective (OC), an arts community that encourages belonging and creativity for artists of all abilities, has spent a good portion of their summer collaborating with Industrial Design Professors and students of RISD, as well as independent artists to present “The Art Car Derby” on Sunday, October 15 at The Met. The event will […]
Certain music has a creepy vibe, whether the lyrics outright discuss what goes bump in the night or the melody more subtly imbues spookiness. We reached out to our Motif staff to put together the ultimate Halloween playlist for your next costume party. What they generated was an eclectic mix of genres across decades that […]
Paranormal stories have always fascinated me. I like to believe there is some sort of afterlife and a way for spirits to connect with the living from the great beyond, but I doubt I’ll ever know for certain; however, there’s a beauty to the mystery and to the people trying to unlock the secrets of […]
Halloween is that time of the year when you can dress up in any costume you want and drink craft beer. Hold the candy corn and Tootsie rolls, let’s scare up some grown-up treats. Seasonal beers aren’t around for long, so come taste some pumpkin beer with me! First up in my treat bag is […]
The orange October sky darkens to twilight, flirting with the silhouette of the Providence skyline. The lights above the streets in the highline apartments flicker on, while the storefronts on the sidewalks flip their signs and go dark. A fall breeze hushes through the tight streets. The bell of a shop door closing jingles distantly, […]
Fear is one formidable foe. We can think of an antonym for anxiety: calm. For cowardice: courage. But fear? Boldness? Fearlessness? No. There isn’t a direct opposition, no singular word for something you can summon within yourself, and perhaps that’s why conquering fear can be so damn tough. It’s the All Hallows’ Eve season, and […]
On a frigid winter night in 1892, the villagers of Exeter exhumed the corpse of Mercy Brown. Her cheeks blushed, her lips still red – Mercy’s body was desecrated in the name of a centuries-old superstition of vampires. The deceased 19-year-old went on to become as famous as Salem’s witches and Fall River’s ax murderess, […]
